A woman fell for a parking scam in downtown Houston and wants others to be aware of how it happened so they don’t fall victim themselves.
HOUSTON — When you park in downtown Houston, signs tell you how to pay but that doesn’t stop some people from taking advantage of those who aren’t familiar with the process.
If you’re in a hurry to get to dinner or a show, you could easily fall victim to a scam that’s becoming more and more prevalent.
That’s exactly what Stacy Vazquez said happened to her and her husband. She said they were going out for dinner and went to park in a lot near Post Houston.
“There was a man with a vest and light and we thought, OK, this is the parking attendant, let’s pay him. He asked for $20,” she said. “I don’t know why, I didn’t think twice.”
She said someone stopped them and told them they had been scammed. After learning what had happened, she posted a video to social media to warn others. It has been viewed nearly 200,000 times and people in the comments shared similar experiences.
The scam is nothing new, unfortunately. Park Houston Deputy Director Maria Irshad said it’s fairly common.
“It happens at parking lots,” Irshad said.
Irshad said they’ve added signs to help direct people how to pay to park in downtown.
“We have two methods of payment — a meter or our app,” Irshad said.
Irshad said there are no city parking attendants but as technology changes, so do the scams. She said some are now using fake QR codes at both public and private parking lots.
“Downtown is a target because all the parking lots require some form of payment,” Irshad said.
Even with the signs up, city officials said scammers will continue to return as long as people keep falling for it. They said they’re working with the Houston Police Department to get better enforcement.